The Toronto Argonauts improved to 5-3 with their 35-16 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Wednesday, but head coach Ryan Dinwiddie was far from satisfied with his team's offensive performance.

The Argonauts’ offence finished with just 253 yards in the win, with their lone touchdown of the first half coming off a blocked punt returned for a touchdown by Dejon Brissett.

"We couldn't get lined up, we couldn't block the right guys," Dinwiddie said post-game. "It was one of the worst offensive performances I've seen, and those guys know it.

"I didn't rip them at halftime . . . there's no reason to get after them on game day. But we've got to be a whole lot better than that and there's some guys who need to get better or they're not going to be here."

McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who has taken over at quarterback with Nick Arbuckle injured, completed 15 of his 21 passes Wednesday for 181 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. 

In addition to the special-teams touchdown, the Argonauts extended their lead in the third quarter with Dexter McCoil Sr. and Chris Edwards both returning interceptions for touchdowns.

"Our special teams were phenomenal," Dinwiddie said. "Those guys swarmed to the ball, flew around and made some real good plays and then the blocked punt was huge for Dejon to get that.

"Defensively, they're practising and trying to score all the time. That was big-time for those guys to kind of put it out of reach when we (offence) weren't doing our part."

The Argonauts (5-3) will look to hold on to sole possession of first place in the East Division when they face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-4) on Monday.